Back home from my mother's place for Thanksgiving. Not much to do this
afternoon before I gotta return to work tomorrow, so I'm in Starbucks
for the first time in about 4 or 5 months.
Moving on with 2023 (despite a newly budding Dave Matthews obsession.....) to Dick's #2.
First show of 2023 played outside of the dump truck! 
In my Etymotic in-ear earbuds I had to cut the bass around 55/77 hz.
The 2023 sound mixes are so odd. It's like they just PUMPED the bass.
9/1/23 Commerce City, CO
Set 1
Wolfman's Brother - 13 minute opener. The jam begins right at
4:45 with the guys DROPPING into the porno-scratch groove like it's 1997
again. Page begins with the Clav or whatever, but quickly the jam goes
to deeper waters. It gets EXTRA chill and laid back. Trey is leaning
hard into the wah, patiently coaxing out the perfect notes at the
perfect times. There seems to be a solid call-and-response forming
between him and Page around the 7:45 mark which pushes the jam to start
to rebuild some heat. Trey is absolutely stuck in the murk on this one!!!! Full swamp-wah awesomeness. And
then as soon as I can type that he switches it off for his clean
tone!!! Perfectly melodic soloing ensues, but the jam remains chill as
ice (in a great way). Around the 10 minute mark things shift into higher
gear and the final few minutes see them peaking this out to a splendid
conclusion. Killer almost-hose finale! This was very cool!!!
Probably must-hear - the jam felt kinda unique and this deserves Jam
Chart entry, imho. Not an all timer, but totally worth your time.
SICK!!!!
Sparkle - Odd choice in slot two, kinda feels out of place, but hey, Sparkle can pretty much go anywhere. Sparkle is Sparkle.
Bathtub Gin - Alright, Gin in slot 3! Not anything must-hear, but
it's still highlight worthy. Develops into a good heated fire in the
back half with Trey playing with his backwards-guitar pedal before
raging to a peaky conclusion. A great little snack! The ending
peak section seems to go on forever - it never truly EXPLODES like you
want, but it's still great.
Back On the Train - As with every other 2023 version, this is stellar
Type 1 of the highest order, if not entirely essential. Nothing must
hear in the slightest, but as excellent as any other.
Halfway to the Moon - The chill vibe from Wolfman is back from
the outset. Very quickly, it develops serious heat and evolves into an
absolutely smashing, blazing-hot reading of the song!!!! Fantastic!!!
This is jam-charted, but I don't really get it. This was excellent, but
nothing different than many other raging HTTM's that I've heard.
Bouncing Around the Room - Is Bouncing.
Stash - 12 minutes, the composed section is as clean as you could
possibly want from 2023 (awesome!!!). Not too quiet, yet perfectly
delicate, this is the best played Stash I've heard in a hot minute!!! Another 2023 "composed section" winner!!! Right from the get go, at around 6:30, the jam begins and descends down into that ultra-chill, super quiet zone hinted at in Wolfman and Halfway!!! The guys REALLY lean into the dynamics on this one and it's fantastic!!!! I'd
say this Stash is pretty must-hear. Not the greatest of all time but a
terrific little version!!! Played flawlessly, pretty unique jamming (for
2023).....This felt like an "average hot" Stash if it was 1995 or
something. That is a compliment.
Esther - Third version of 2023 and eight version overall since 2021.
Wow. Estheraissance? And again, it's basically performed flawlessly. Way to go!!!
David Bowie - Bowie to close the set. Trey is doing that "playing too
quietly thing" once more, unfortunately. Thankfully, aside from that,
the composed section is clean as F!!! Trey is just nailing it!!! Unfortunately
again though, the whole vibe of it is a tad shaky despite the notes
being hit - not just from Trey, but the whole band. Maybe it's just me,
but it feels tired, like it's lack energy or something. I know others
will disagree, but this was not my favorite Bowie. A FINE version, but nothing more, imo.
All in all, a bit of an odd set!!! Everything was pretty excellent, but
there wasn't much that REALLY blew me away at all. Even the must-hear
highlights were just "average" strong for the most part. Wolfman, Gin
and Stash were all fantastic, but they don't have a patch on other
monster versions from this year. It was like reviewing an early 3.0 set
or something. Terrific for what it was, but not impressive at all in
comparison to other recent shows, lets put it like that. Not a knock at
all, just an observation. Very interesting how sets/shows can be SO
different from one another in so many different ways!!!
It felt like the set was very "slight" despite delivering on multiple
songs. It was like they spent the whole set in a state of just warming
up or something.
I don't know how else to explain it. That 2nd set better blow my mind, because a 4.3-level 1st set that was not.
Set 2
Sand - Ooh, 24 minute Sand! That's rare! As
with the rest of the jams this show, this one begins exceptionally
quiet and chill. Ultra late-night, late-90s vibing on this one right out
of the gate. Somewhere around the 6 minute mark, it starts to gain a
blissful head of steam and move into a quiet-peak of sorts. They are
just building this thing calmly upwards. And they proceed
to sit in the space, milking the calm bliss, for a long time. Somewhere
around the 10 or 11 minute mark it sounds like they are heading for a
true peak section. But it's STILL like they have their foot on the
brake and keep backing off instead....Get out of the bliss, please, I
beg!!!! If this is going to be 24 minutes of bliss - in a SAND - I'm
gonna be bummed.....By 12 minutes they are STILL building
this supposed peak-that-won't-ever-arrive! I mean, this is very
enjoyable, but it's like getting blue-balled over and over again!
FINALLY, around the 13 minute mark, they let loose and get going
for real. But we still aren't approaching "next level" or anything,
we've merely gone from chill-bliss to "regular" heat. The first signs of
the jam wanting to stretch beyond finally start to occur around the 14
minute point. Still firmly trapped in the never-ending bliss, Fishman
goes bananaz on the kit, as if to say "C'mon guys, let's break out!!!".
Thank christ this has the desired effect and, at the friggin 15 minute mark, we FINALLY get some funky darkness! My god, that was the longest I think I've ever had to wait for some kind of pay off....
By 16 minutes, Trey is going with the background loopers while
doing his robo-wah thing. Page is aping his rhythms and the band is
locked in tight together as one. By 17:30, things are going
appropriately askew. Trey doing "blip bloop" fun and the rest of the
guys are raging a great rhythm. Total fire. Somewhere around the 19:30
mark, the jam shifts again back to major-key, hose bliss. Massive peak explosion incoming! Get ready!!!! Ah, dang it! They friggin avoided it AGAIN!!!
Around 20:40, the peak-in-progress subsides and the guys move into a BLAZING hot,
rock and roll area of jamming instead. By 21:30 they abandon THIS and
go into an uber-funky and growly kind of area for a brief moment. Shades
of ambience begin to creep in with Page's synths, but the train is
still very much barrelling down the tracks at 500mph. Then, out of
nowhere, at the 21:50 point, the jam suddenly shifts on a dime and
reverts back into the Sand riff and jam! What the corn was that
ending?! Somehow they pulled it off, but they were just like "eh, that's
enough jamming" and closed it for no reason....
I'm very conflicted about that Sand - it was objectively a great listen
and a definite journey, never feeling aimless, but at the same time once
they escaped the dreaded Bliss Hell they seemed to be trapped in, they
could never commit to a new section, instead changing from one style to
the next and back almost instantly. Really annoying!! Rightly so, this
will be lauded as great, but personally, this was not my preferred
version of Sand.
>No Men In No Man's Land - 14:38 is the timestamp on this
one. As with everything else tonight, the jam immediately begins in that
"ultra laid back" zone. Love it on this - it gives Gordo a chance to
shine and he basically gets a lengthy bass solo right off the rip. Then
Trey comes in all patient-like with melodic leads before tossing it over
to Page for some watery keys. This great opening section comes to a
close around 5:20. You can hear the bliss coming from a mile away....Textural
synth washes set the bed for Trey to pick out some beautiful notes.
Around 6:30, Trey lays back to allow Page to the fore while Fishman is
slowly amping up the intensity on the drum kit. Pretty cool contrast.
Around the 8 minute mark, Trey steps back up and starts laying down
melodic leads with intent before drifting back again. Oh no, at this point it feels like the jam is stagnating a good bit. Around
9:30 Page starts going nuts with wacky sound effects to try to spur
them on, but everyone else is still stuck in the same area. There are
brief moments of "break through" before they retreat again. Wtf, just commit and hammer it home, dang it. At
10:30, Trey comes back out and patiently starts laying down absolutely
peak-tastic lines left and right. Page syncs up and joins him over on
the piano while Fishman amps it back up some more. Ok, now we're talking!!!! The
next minute or two see Trey shredding his face off while the rest of
the band gather behind him, pushing him upwards and elevating this No
Men to the sky!!!! Camden 1999 Chalkdust levels of magical
soaring!!!! Ok, not quite, but that is the territory we are approaching.
The final few minutes are some of the best X Factor Magic of the entire
year!!! This jam just friggin TAKES FOR THE DAMN SKY!!!! HOLY CRAP!!!!
MAGIC MAGIC MAGIC MAGIC MAGIC MAGIC MAGIC MAGIC!!!! THIS PEAK!!! THIS
FRIGGIN PEAK!!!! MY GOD!!!!! MY JAW IS ON THE FLOOR!!!!! HELL
YES!!!!!!!!
Wow....I thought that sucker was gonna peter out but they turned it
around and let it BLOSSOM!!!!!! That was a friggin JOURNEY!!!!
Incredible!!! Those final 4 or 5 minutes were some of the best playing
of the entire year!!! DO NOT MISS THIS!!!! Absolutely miles better than
Sand in every way!!!!
>Llama - GREAT SEGUE OUTTA NOWHERE! 
FAST LLAMA! The
chill flavor of the jamming tonight gives this Llama a great flavor. Of
course Trey burns it down (honestly, better than he has for the rest of
the night), but it has this latin-y underccurent about it. He's
unleashing the lava, but also using the perfect amount of restraint. A
very strong Llama totally worth a listen!!!!
Mountains in the Mist - Yet another classic version. Perfect out of Llama, wow. Great version!!!
Scents and Subtle Sounds - Merely 12 minutes, it flows like
butter rising out of the Mist! The jam begins around 4:30. Again, they
dive head first into the "late night chill" sound, to great effect!!! It
really gives this Scents a sense of "building". The way the song dips
down into this chill-out zone after the rocking of the song proper. Trey
is thankfully still "switched on", doing great lead work throughout,
accented by Page's wonderful piano that just totally adds a great sense
of color to the jam!!! Around the 7 minute mark, the jam slowly starts
to coalesce into a tighter feel, like they are definitely starting to
build towards a climax section. Around 8:30, this morphs into a strange,
psychedelic "stomp" of a section!!!! Fishman aborts this unique feel
quickly though and the jam starts to get a red-hot bliss vibe going. But
they ain't peaking yet - we've got some building to do! Finally around
10 minutes they settle into the closing section. No bliss, this thing
gets into a murky groove and then basically peters out... This is must hear!! For such a "short" run time, there was a LOT going on! Very much a "journey"!!!! Must hear!!!
Shine a Light - They aborted Scents for this?! Sorry,
this is one of my least favorite Stones songs and it feels like a
derailment when they just built things back up out of Mountains. It
really felt like the set had the potential to "go weird" and then they
just threw the brakes on it with this. To be fair, this is friggin killer, so I will give it that. Great version!!! Spectacular soloing from Trey.
Wilson - First encore. Is Wilson. Is good.
Split Open and Melt - 17 minute version to close. Kinda sloppy on
the execution. Gnarly as ever but you've heard better. Still must-hear
though. This one stays very awkwardly "restrained" for a long time
(almost to the 8 or 9 minute mark) before it starts to really begin to
become unhinged. It gets far out into robo-bleep-bloop land, but then
Fishman seems to want to reintroduce the Split rhythm before eventually
abandoning ship again, lol. Eventually, it becomes totally unstable like
the recent MSG 2023 version. Maybe not to that extent - this one seems
much more rhythmic - but Gordo's FX are on full blast, Trey has robo
loops set out the ass, and the whole thing is a swirling, messy, vortex
of noise. The aural equivalent of a belligerent 7 year old
crashing from a sugar high, running through the house, scribbling all
over the walls with a crayon while mom is angrily smashing plates in the
kitchen on the floor out of desperation....or something like that.
It's definitely....something! In a good way!!! If you want your Phish WACKY, look no further!
I don't like it at all as a closer, but damn if they didn't just throw
all the cards in the air and let them fall where they may!!! Pure
insanity!!!
All in all, I'm kinda disappointed by this show - to my ears, no
way in hell was this a 4.0. The first set was very good with a few great
jams but nothing earth shattering, but still excellent. It just didn't
blow my mind but it was still super solid and enjoyable. Again, hard to
describe. Set 2 had a ton going on, but felt like it lacked cohesion. It
didn't seem like the guys truly woke up until that insane No Men. Sand
had a lot going on but was too ADHD for it's own good and took friggin
FOREVER to escape the bliss trap early on. Others will love it - I
don't.
The No Men>Llama>Mist>Scents is the clear must-hear music of
the night for me. No Men and Scents were both shorter jams, but they
packed a hell of a punch. No Men threatened to fizzle early, but they
pushed on and the X Factor shone right through, loud and bright!!!
And then of course the utterly ridiculous Melt that felt self-indulgent
in the extreme while also maintaing a killer sense of rhythm with a
terrific conclusion.
Personally? I'd rate this like a solid 4.0. There is a ton going on, but
it felt like one of the Atlantic City 2021 shows all over again or
something....
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